Concert Review: Eir Aoi

Back in October 2015, Anime pop-princess Eir Aoi had to postpone her first solo concert in Singapore, Eir Aoi LIVE TOUR 2015 -BEYOND THE LAPIS, due to the haze. Fast forward to 8 January 2016 where hundreds of fans have gathered at The Coliseum at the Hard Rock Hotel Singapore with their bright blue light sticks, bubbling with excitement as they wait for their idol to appear.

Bursting onto the stage with her bright smile and energetic personality, Eir Aoi was a compact yet vocal bundle that quickly worked her fans into a storm, opening the concert with her hit song INNOCENCE, the opening song to the famous anime series Sword Art Online (SAO).

In-between her songs, she chatted up her fans, telling them how excited she was to be in Singapore, even name dropping places she’d been too since she landed – including having dinner at Din Tai Fung and seeing the Merlion again. She also shared her amazement at how the Merlion has changed since the last time she was in Singapore a couple years ago.

After roughly eight or nine songs, Eir Aoi quickly dashed off to take a quick break and her DJ/guitarist DJ Atsushi Sano took center stage. Spinning an EDM-style remix of her song Gladius, DJ Atsushi tried his best to keep the crowds pumped but unfortunately for him, the crowd wasn’t too into his remix.

However Eir soon popped out back on stage, her high energy infecting everyone again as she hyped the crowd for her next song GENSIS.

Taking breathers in between songs, Eir took the opportunity to introduce her DJ, explaining that it was his first time in Singapore. She also shared that they were both looking forward to eating chicken rice the day after the concert.

Her fans found her banter adorable, chuckling as she stumbled over her English lines and enthusiastically cheering her on when she spoke about her experiences in Singapore.

To the surprise and delight of her fans, Eir even performed a song that she had never sung live before. Off her latest album, Shoegazer is her newest single and it peaked at number 26 on the Oricon chart.

Other songs in her second set included Lapis Lazuli, from the anime Arlsan Senki and Sirius from the hit anime series Kill la Kill. Eir closed her second set with the opening theme of SAO II, Ignite, before profusely thanking her fans and running off the stage.

But as with all Japanese pop concerts, we all knew that there was an encore waiting. After a couple of minutes of her fans screaming her name and waving their light sticks, Eir Aoi returned from her quick break with two more songs for her encore.